Subtitled "Describing Planes Of an Expanding Hypersphere". Recorded in 1984 but held up in a post-production stasis until now, this is music for 5 guitars, mallet guitar, violin, drums, bass, keyboards, that is being touted as the "most dense, cacophonous Branca symphony yet." "Glenn's music gets quite often inaccurately described as wall-of-sound/noise/guitars/whatever. A wall exists for the purpose of containment. 'Symphony No. 5' is expansive beyond limits, smashing the wall (at least sonically) between this dimension & all others. There is quite audibly the garblings of the voices of alien intelligences banging at the doors of our world as we dream of theirs."
Review by Brian Olewnick
Recordings of Branca's music cannot fail but do it an injustice. The purely visceral punch of his sound and the extreme effects that the overtones generate deep within one's ear (which can sound like a microscopic, though incredibly intense, devil's choir) are impossible to duplicate in recording media. Nonetheless, the listener can get something of a taste of its power through a recording such as the one at hand.
Though he once again includes a subtitle that is imbued with matters arcane ("Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere"), Symphony No. 5 actually harkens back more to Branca's earlier rock-based compositions than to more diffuse works like Symphony No. 3. Stefan Wischerth's steady drumming, which might sound leaden in other contexts, is featured prominently here and propels the 11-piece ensemble dramatically through each movement. The final section -- filled with dense, industrial thrashings and a fractured rhythm -- breaks character somewhat, bringing the piece to an unsettling close. As with several prior works, the "guitars" in question appear to be homemade models consisting of guitar strings and pickups attached to wooden planks, laid in tiers horizontally and played with mallets or sticks. By using several different tunings (all, knowing Branca's methodology, presumably related in some obscure mathematical fashion), the chords created are both complex and ambiguous, and virtually always fascinating. If there's a complaint to be lodged with this composition, perhaps it is that it comes across more as a series of individual movements and less as a whole, organic form. But those movements offer more than enough pleasures to highly recommend the album both to Branca fans and to newcomers seeking to learn about his music.
MUSICIANS
Glenn Branca conductor & harmonics guitar Stephan Wischerth drums Tim Sommer bass Dan Braun bass Al Arthur mallet guitar Greg Letson keyboard Miriam McDonough Keyboard & assistant conductor Jonathan Bepler guitar Hahn Rowe voilin & guitar Evans Wohlforth guitar Matthew Munisteri guitar Mark Roule guitar
LABEL INFO
© 1993 Atavistic PO Box 578266 Chicago, IL 60657
NewTone Records contact: Robi Droli Strada Roncaglia, 16, 15040 S. Germano (AL) Italy, fax (0) 142/50780
NOTES
Recorded by Hahn Rowe. Mixed by Hahn Rowe & Glenn Branca Recorded at 512 West 19th St November 1984 Post-production by Wharton Tiers, Fun City NYC
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